Editing International Criminal Court (section)

===Cooperation by states not party to Rome Statute===
One of the principles of international law is that a treaty does not create either obligations or rights for third states without their consent, and this is also enshrined in the 1969 [[Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Article 34 |work=[[Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties]] |year=1969 |publisher=United Nations |url=http://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf |access-date=30 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017052135/http://legal.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/1_1_1969.pdf |archive-date=17 October 2013 }}</ref> The cooperation of the non-party states with the ICC is envisioned by the [[Rome Statute]] of the International Criminal Court to be of voluntary nature.<ref name="RomeStatute" />{{rp|article 87 (5)(a)}} States not acceded to the Rome Statute might still be subject to an obligation to cooperate with ICC in certain cases.<ref name="zhu">
{{cite journal |last=Zhu |first=Wenqi |title=On Co-Operation by States Not Party to the International Criminal Court |journal=[[International Review of the Red Cross]] |issue=861 |pages=87–110 |year=2006 |publisher=[[International Committee of the Red Cross]] |url=http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/review-861-p87/$File/irrc_861_Wenqi.pdf |access-date=30 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122050413/http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/review-861-p87/$File/irrc_861_Wenqi.pdf |archive-date=22 November 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> When a case is referred to the ICC by the UN [[Security Council]] all UN member states are obliged to cooperate, since its decisions are binding for all of them.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter |title=UN Charter |date=26 June 1945}} Article 25.</ref> Also, there is an obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law, which stems from the [[Geneva Conventions]] and [[Additional Protocol I]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/f6c8b9fee14a77fdc125641e0052b079 |title=Additional Protocol I |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081210124556/http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/7c4d08d9b287a42141256739003e636b/f6c8b9fee14a77fdc125641e0052b079 |archive-date=10 December 2008 |date=8 June 1977}}  Article 89.</ref> which reflects the absolute nature of [[international humanitarian law]].<ref>''Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua ([[Nicaragua v. United States|Nicaragua v. the United States]] of America)'', Merits, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1986, p. 114, para. 220.</ref>

In relation to cooperation in investigation and evidence gathering, it is implied from the Rome Statute<ref name="RomeStatute" />{{rp|article 99}} that the consent of a non-party state is a prerequisite for [[#Office of the Prosecutor|ICC Prosecutor]] to conduct an investigation within its territory, and it seems that it is even more necessary for him to observe any reasonable conditions raised by that state, since such restrictions exist for states party to the Statute.<ref name=zhu/> Taking into account the experience of the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (which worked with the principle of the primacy, instead of [[#Complementarity|complementarity]]) in relation to cooperation, some scholars have expressed their pessimism as to the possibility of ICC to obtain cooperation of non-party states.<ref name=zhu/> As for the actions that ICC can take toward non-party states that do not cooperate, the Rome Statute stipulates that the Court may inform the [[Assembly of States Parties]] or Security Council, when the matter was referred by it, when non-party state refuses to cooperate after it has entered into an ''ad hoc'' arrangement or an agreement with the Court.<ref name="RomeStatute" />{{rp|article 87(5)}}